Switching apparatus



AEJrge 27, 1946. R H. JQRDAN 2,405,693

SWITCHING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 15, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 %j' E -MIE T MLIC a/ mzma /c INVENTOR. W H W Aug R. H. JQRDAN 2,4653

SWITCHING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 15', 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JYW BY M l M Patented Aug. 27, 1946 SWITCHING APPARATUS Richard H. Jordan, Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to Dominion Electrical Manufacturing, Inc., a

corporation of Ohio Application September 15, 1943, Serial No. 502,481

11 Claims. 1

My invention relates in general to switching apparatus and more particularly to switching apparatus controlled by push buttons and adapted to be utilized in connection with electrical y heated devices.

My invention will be described in connection with an electric iron but it is to be understood that my invention applies to electrical heating devices of all kinds which are thermostatically controlled.

An object of my invention is the provision of a plurality of push buttons to operate upon a pinrality of individual switches, each of which is set to operate at a different predetermined temperature.

Another object of my invention is the provision of controlling the temperature at which an electrically heated device is operated by push button control.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a plurality of push buttons which may be selectively locked in any one of a number of positions to control the temperature at which the electrically heated device is operated.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a release push button which when operated releases all of the push buttons which actuate the individual switches.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a switching apparatus which may be controlled by a plurality of push buttons and which is simple to manufacture and reliable in operation.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of my invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure I is a plan view of an electric iron embodying the features of my invention with the top shell of the iron removed and with the lower contact spring and thermostat deleted to clarify. the drawing;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional View of Figure 1 taken along the line 2-2 thereof, the Figure 2 showing the lower contact spring and the thermostat;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 33 of Figure 1 with the contacts shown in their open position;

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 3 but shows the contacts in the closed position;

Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure 1 but shows the thermostat and lower contact spring only with the upper contact spring and push buttons removed;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the electrical circuit for the iron; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view showing a modification of the push button.

In the drawings, the electrical connections of the cord and other terminal leads as well as the handle have been left off for purposes of clarity. The sole plate of the iron is designated by the reference character IG upon which is mounted a heating element I l and a pressure plate l2. The shell E3 of the iron is removed in Figures 1 and 5 but is shown in cross-section in Figures 2, 3 and 4. The switching apparatus is controlled or governed by a thermostat is which may be of any suitable construction. As illustrated, one end of the thermostat M which may be constructed of bi-metallic metal, is anchored to the sole plate Ill by a screw l5 and the other end of the thermostat is provided with an insulating button It which is arranged to actuate a lower contact spring l9. Positioned above the lower contact spring is an upper contact spring 88, both of which contact springs are carried by a contact support I! which may be suitably anchored or otherwise fastened to the sole plate H] by means of screws. The upper and lower contact springs l8 and I9 are shown in Figure 6. When electrical contact is made between the upper and lower contact springs l3 and IS, a circuit is established through the conductors 24 for energizing the electrical heating element l! for the iron. The upper contact spring It comprises a plurality of contact fingers 20, 2! and 22 and a short finger 723. The lower contact spring 59 comprises a plurality of contact fingers 2?, 28 and 29,. As illustrated, the plurality of contact fingers carry contact points which may be of suitable material to produce long life and wear. The contact points carried by the contact fingers 2i and 2'! comprise a set, the contact points carried by the fingers 2i and 28 comprise another set, and the contact points carried by the contact fingers .22 and 29 comprise a third set. When any one of these sets of contacts make electrical engagethe pressure plate l2 by means of screws 35 and the upper bridge portion has a plurality of spaced openings or guide holes 4| to receive the push buttons. The shell |3 is also provided with guide holes which are in alignment with the guide holes in the bridge support 34. Positioned. below the upper bridge portion of the bridge support 34 is a slidable latch member 36 which is constrained towards the rear of the iron by a spring member 31 which is fastened to the top of the left-hand end of the bridge support by the screw 35. Each of the push buttons is provided with a shoulder 38 and a circular recess 39. The shoulders 38 engage the underneath side of the shell l3 and prevent the push buttons from being pushed up-- wardly through the openings in the shell. I'he slidable latch member 36 is provided with a plurality of spaced openings to receive the push buttons when they are depressed. The spaced openings in the slidable latch member 36 are designated by the reference character 4!) and are of the same spacing as the spacing of the holes 4| in the upper portion of the bridge support 34. The lower ends of the push buttons are conical in shape and are such that when the push buttons are depressed, the conical shaped ends push the slidable latch member 36 to the front end of the iron. Just as soon as the conical end portions are pushed through the holes 49 in the slidable latch member 36, the spring 31 immediately pushes the slidable latch member 33 towards the rear end of the iron and causes the slidable latch member 36 to hold the depressed push button in its downward position. In Figure 2, the push button 32 is illustrated in its depressed position and the slidable latch member 35 is engaging the circular recess in the push button 32. The lower conical ends of the push buttons 35!, 3| and 32 are arranged to engage, respectively, the contact fingers 29, 2| and 22. The downward movement of the contact fingers 29, 2| and 22 is arrested when the fingers engage the stops 46, 41 and 48, respectively. The stops are made adjustable so that the downward movement of the contact fingers 29, 2| and 22 may be arrested at different elevations or positions to give different temperature settings for the iron. The lower end of the push button 33 is arranged to engage the short finger 23 which acts as a spring to restore the push button to its uppermost position. The contact fingers 29, 2| and 22 operate also as springs to restore the push buttons 39, 3| and 32 to their uppermost position.

In Figure 2 the push button 33 is depressed and the slidable latch member 36 is engaging the circular recess 39 thereof to hold the push button in its lowermost position. The set of contacts carried by the contact fingers 22 and 29 are making engagement to electrically energize the heating element l3. Now let it be assumed that the push button 3| is depressed. During the first initial movement of the depressing of the push button 3| the conical shaped end thereof engages the side wall of a hole 40 in the slidable latch member 36 and constrains or pushes the slidablelatch member 36 towards the front of the iron against the spring 31. When the complete conical end is pushed within the hole 40 the slidable latch member 36 releases the push button 32, whereupon it is pushed upwardly by the contact finger 22 and is restored to its uppermost position. When the recess of the push button 3| is depressed to the same level as the slidable latch member 36 it is then held in its lowermost position as shown in Figure 4. If now another push button is pressed down, this again will move the slidable latch member 36 towards the front of the iron and at a certain point in the depressing of the push button the slidable latch member 36 will release the previously depressed button and will hold or arrest the push button which is being depressed in its downward position. The push button 33 has no recess and is only used to release any of the other push buttons. It will not stay in the down position because it has no circular recess into which the slidable latch member 36 can engage.

The reason for this release push button construction is that if the operator should push all of the push buttons 30, 3| and 32 down at the same time they would all be locked in the down position. There would be no means for moving the slidable latch member 36 to the release position so that the buttons would be restored to their upper position. The push button 33 is added for releasing all of the other push buttons. Another advantage of the releasing push button 33 is that in the oil position, all of the switch buttons will be up and therefore look symmetrical.

The lower contact spring I9 functions substantially as a solid spring member so that as it is actuated by the thermostat I4, all of the contacts 21, 28 and 29 move simultaneously together in the same level. When the thermostat is heated the insulating button I6 moves downwardly and as it moves downwardly the lower contact spring l9 accordingly moves downwardly and spaces the contact fingers 21, 28 and 29, respectively, from the contact fingers 20, 2| and 22. Inasmuch as the contact fingers 29, 2| and 22 are arrested upon difierent levels depending upon the adjustment of the adjustable stops 46, 41 and 48, respectively, the temperature at which the iron is operated is governed by the depressing of a selected push button. Thus, for example, the adjustable stop 46 may be set to produce a high operating temperature, the stop 41 may be adjusted to give a medium operating temperature, and the stop 48 may be adjusted to give a low operating temperature.

In Figure 7 I show an alternate design of the switch push button so that there is no need for the release push button 33. By modifying the switch push buttons 30, 3| and 32 to have a bevelled surface 54 as indicated, then in the event all of the push buttons are pushed down at once, it is only necessary to further depress any one of the three push buttons to release the others, the releasing action being effected by the bevelled surface 54 urging the slidable latch member 36 to one side to free the recesses 39 in the push buttons. With the modification of the push buttons as illustrated in Figure '7, it is noted that one push button will always be in a down position. A release push button of the design of Figure '1 may be added to restore all of the push switch buttons to the upper off positions to de-energize the iron.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an electrically heated device having a temperature responsive device, the improvement of switching apparatus for controlling the elecaeoacos trically heated device, said improvement C0111:- prising a plurality of switches adapted to open and close a circuit to the electrically heated device, each of said switches having, a first movable member and a second movable member normally constrained to open position, said second movable members being actuated relative to the first movable members by the temperature responsive device, a push button for each switch for actuating respectively the first movable members of the switches. toward the second movable members to close the circuit, a stop for each switch to limit respectively the travel of the first movable members when actuated by the push buttons, the stop for each switch determining the temperature at which the selected switch is operated, and selective locking means for each push button to selectively lock the push buttons in an actuated position.

2. In an electrically heated device having a temperature responsive device, the improvement of switching apparatus for' controlling the electrically heated device, said improvement comprising a plurality of switches adapted to open and close a circuit to the electrically heated device, each of said switches having a first movable member and a second movable member normally constrained to open position, said second movable members being actuated relative to the first movable members by the temperature responsive device, a push button for each switch foractuating respectively the first movable members of the switches toward the second movable members to close the circuit, a stop for each switch to limit respectively the travel ofv the first movable members when actuated by the push buttons, the stop for each switch determiningv the temperature at which the selected switch is operated, and selective locking means for each push button to selectively lock the push buttons in an actuated position, and means for adjusting the position of each of. said stops,

3. In an electrically temperature responsive heated device having a device, the improvement of switching apparatus for controlling the electrica1lyheated device, said" improvement comprising a plurality of switches adapted to, open and close a circuit to the electrically heated device, each of said switches having a fir t. movable member and a second movable member normally constrained to open position, said second movable member moving as a unit and being actuated relative to the first movable members by the temperature responsive device, a. push button for each switch for actuating respectively the first movable members of the switches toward the second movable members to close the circuit, a stop for each switch to limit respectively the travel of the first movable members when actuated by the push buttons, the stop for each switch determining the temperature at which the selected switch is operated, and selective locking means for each push button to selectively lock the push buttons in an actuated position, and means, for adjusting the position of each of said stops.

4. In an electrically heated device having a temperature responsive device, the improvement of switching apparatus for controlling the electrically heated device, said improvement comprising a plurality of switches adapted to open and close a circuit to the electrically heated device, each of said switches having a first movable member and a second movable member normally constrained to open position, said secbutton to selectively lock the push buttons in an actuated position, and push button means for relea-sin 'the selective locking means.

5. In an electrically heated device having a temperature responsive device, the improvement of, switchin apparatus for controlling the: electrically heated device, said improvement comprising a plurality of. switches adapted to open and close a circuit to the electrically heated device, each of said switches having a first movable member and a second movable member normally constrained to open position, said second-movable members being actuated relative to the first movable members by the temperature responsive device, a push button for each switch for actuating respectively the first movable members of the switches toward the second movable members to close the circuit, a stop for each switch to limit respectively the travel of the first movable members when actuated by the push buttons, the stop for each switch determining the temperature at which the selected switch is operated, and selective locking means for each push button to selectively'lock the push buttons in actuated position, said selected locking means comprising a locking plate having a plurality of engaging latch means beside which the push buttons pass, each said push button having notch means to receive respectively the latch means, means. for urging the locking plate transversely of the push buttons, whereby when a selected push button is actuated and the notch means therein. is aligned with the associated latch means the said selected push button is held in its actuated position, the actuation of a selected push button transversely moving the locking plate andreleasing the previously se lected push button.

6. In an electrically heated device having a temperature responsive device, the improvement of switching apparatus for controlling the electrically heated device, said improvement comprising, a plurality of switches adapted to open and close a circuit to the electrically heated device, each of said switches having a first movable member and a second movable member nor mally constrained to open position, said second movable members being actuated relative to the first movable members by the temperature responsive device, a push button for each switch for acutating respectively the first movable members of the switches toward the second movable members to close the circuit, a stop for each switch to limit. respectively the travel of the first movable members when actuated by the push buttons, the stop for each switch determining the temperature at which the selected switch is operated, selective locking means for each push button to selectively lock the push buttons in an actuated position, said selected locking means comprising a locking plate having a plurality of engaging latch means beside which the push buttons pass, each said push button having notch means to receive respectively the latch means, means for urging the locking plate transversely of the push buttons, whereby when a selected push button is actuated and the notch means therein is aligned with the associated latch means the said selected push button is held in its actuated position, the actuation of a selected push button transversely moving the looking plate and releasing the previously selected push button, and separate push button means for transversely moving the locking plate to release all the push buttons.

'7. In an electrically heated device having a temperature responsive device, the improvement of switching apparatus for controlling the electrically heated device, said improvement comprising a plurality of switches adapted to open and close a circuit to the electrically heated de vice, each of said switches having a first mov able member and a second movable member normally constrained to open position, said second movable members being actuated relative to the first movable members by the temperature responsive device, a push button for each switch for actuating respectively the first movable members of the switches toward the second movable members to close the circuit, selective locking means for each push button to selectively lock the push button in an actuated position, each of said push buttons having engaging means to engage the selective locking means, the said engaging means being located at a longitudinal location on each push buttin to provide a specific longitudinal setting for each push button with respect to the first movable member of its cooperating switch, the longitudinal setting of the push button determining the temperature at which the selected switch is operated, and separate push button means for releasing the selective locking means from the push buttons, to permit all depressed push buttons to return to their released position, said separate push button means being self-returnable to its original position.

8. In an electrically heated device having a temperature responsive device, the improvement 4 of switching apparatus for controlling the electrically heated device, said improvement comprising a plurality of switches adapted to open and close a circuit to the electrically heated device, each of said switches having a first movable member and a second movable member, said second movable members being actuated relative to the first movable members by the temperature responsive device, a push button for each switch for actuating respectively the first movable members of the switches relative to the second movable members, a stop for each switch to limit respectively the travel of the first movable members when actuated by the push buttons, the stop for each switch determining the temperature at which the selected switch is operated, and selective locking means for each push button to selectively lock the push buttons in an actuated position.

9. In an electrically heated device having a temperature responsive device, the improvement of switching apparatus for controlling the electrically heated device, said improvement comprising a plurality of switches adapted to open and close a circuit to the electrically heated device, said switches comprising a plurality of switch members electrically connected in series to a branch of an electric circuit, and a contact member to contact said switch members, said contact member being electrically connected to a second branch of the said electric circuit, said temperature responsive device being disposed to actuate said contact member in response to temperature changes of the electrically heated device and move said contact member into contact and out of contact with a selected switch member, stop means and selective locking means for each switch member to selectively lock the switch members in an actuated position.

10. In an electrically heated device having a temperature responsive device, the improvement of switching apparatus for controlling the electrically heated device, said improvement comprising a contact member electrically connected to a first branch of an electric circuit, a plurality of switch members, said plurality of switch members being electrically connected in series to a second branch of the said electric circuit, and a plurality of actuating means to control the switch members, each of said plurality of actuating means being disposed to selectively constrain one of said switch members and thereby position said switch member relative to said contact member, each of the said actuating means being disposed to move its respective switch member to a different position relative to said contact member, said temperature responsive device being disposed to actuate said contact member in response to temperature changes of the electrically heated device and move said contact member into contact and out of contact with a selected switch member constrained to a selected distance from said contact member by one of said plurality of actuating means, and thereby operate the said electric circuit of the electrically heated device at a predetermined temperature selected by operating a selected actuating means.

11. In an electrically heated device having a temperature responsive device, the improvement of switching apparatus for controlling the electrically heated device, said improvement comprising a plurality of individually controlled switches, said individually controlled switches comprising individually adjustable members, a common contact member, a plurality of push buttons to selectively operate the individual adjustable members, each of said push buttons being disposed to move its respective adjustable member to a position relative to said common contact member, the position of each adjustable member being dififerent from the other adjustable members relative to said common contact member when adjusted by its respective push button, said temperature responsive device being disposed to actuate said common contact member in response to temperature changes of the electrically heated device and move said common contact member into contact and out of contact with a selected adjustable member adjusted to a selected distance from said common contact member by one of said plurality of push buttons.

RICHARD H. JORDAN. 

